Sausage Test

Wine: Domaine Des Relagnes Cotes-du-Rhone – 2003

We decided to cook at home using sausage we bought from Chris at The Cheese Store of Silverlake. The sausage was a new product we had recommended to Chris and he decided to stock it as a test. The sausage was hand-crafted byge by Paul Bertolli who used to cook / own Oliveto in Northern California. His new company is called Fra’ Mani Handcrafted Salumi.

For the first course I found an interesting recipe for a salad. We had never made it before. It was in one of our favorite cookbooks: Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells. What I like so much about her recipes, is they are from restaurants and when we have traveled to France we have been to many of the restaurants to try the specific recipes in the book. We made a salad named: Salade a l”ail Chez Tante Paulette. Sounds fancy but is easy and great. You make a mustard vinaigrette. Sauté bacon (my favorite seasoning) and bread cubes to the cooking bacon (what could be better – croutons cooked in bacon fat) then toss the vinaigrette, bacon, and sautéed croutons. After you place on the plate the top with minced raw garlic. Sounds strong but isn’t. It was an excellent find and we will make again. Actually we did the next night.

For the main course we made Chicken and Sausage Paella derived from The Moro Cookbook. Cathy loves paella and has modified the recipe improving it to fit our tastes. Among other things we added Smoked Paprika and Spanish Sherry: Alvear Asuncion Oloroso. The Pallea was great and will provide several dinners, lunch for Cliff and some chicken for Polenta (the cat).

We had traveled the previous weekend for a wedding in Chicago. It was a spectacular wedding in the Chicago Cultural Center which was the old Chicago Public Library. The building is magnificent and wedding was very elegant. In an amusing whimsy, as the guests were leaving we were all given candy bars. We brought ours home and had the Art Bar: Dark Chocolate and Coconut for dessert!

Except for the fact that Cliff was coming down with a cold it was a great dinner!

Ramping Up

April 18

Wine: Chateau Maris 2003 Minervois Liviniere

We were looking forward to a Spring Risotto. At the market we bought lots of sweet fresh peas, pea tendrils and fresh ramps. We had never cooked with ramps before and didn’t know exactly what to expect. They are strong in taste and you use both the bulb and the leaves. Cathy created this dish, and it turned out great. She actually used some of the leaves in the broth that is used to make the risotto and that intensified the flavor. We served it with lots of fresh Parmesan cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.



The Deviled Ribs were a disappointment. We let the ribs reach room temperature then coated them with the breadcrumb mixture and broiled them. Our broiler is very hot a the breadcrumbs were cooked very fast. When you bit into them however, you were biting into the fat of the prime rib which wasn’t what I expected. I guess one has to carefully go over the each rib removing any remaining fat before breading the ribs. Lesson learned.

For dessert we had Pomegranate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream – Sheer Bliss with Carmel Sauce

In reality although the ribs were not all they could have been, the risotto was so good (and there were leftovers) that on balance it was a very good dinner.

Rubbed the Wrong Way

Wines by Bea:
Samsara 2003 Syrah
Kosta Brown 2005 Pinot Noir Rose

Bea joined us for dinner. We decided to cook prime rib. It is something we have never cooked before.

On Monday night we ate at Campanile like we do every Monday night. They have a different family dinner each Monday. That night they had roasted duck. It was great. We asked at the end of the meal for a piece of duck to take home for our cats Parsifal and Polenta. When they gave us a container it had a whole duck breast in it. Much more than the cats could possibly eat.

We had an idea to create a duck salad out of the remaining duck. Cathy found a recipe for duck salad in the Chez Panisse Café Cookbook. The recipe is for a Warm Duck Salad with Green Olive Relish. It turned out great. On Friday I happened to stop by La Brea Bread to purchase some pastries and bought some green olives there. They made a great relish. The recipe taught us a cool technique we had never used before. We have a metal shallow salad bowl that we use all of the time. After we dressed the salad we actually placed the bowl directly on the stove and over a medium heat heated and wilted the salad. It was a great technique an we will use it in the future.

The New York Times had a recipe for Spice-Crusted Prime Rib with Mashed Potatoes by David Burke on December 28, 2005. The article was entitled: Ringing in the New Year With Luxury and Ease. We had placed in the back of our mind the idea that some day we would make it. The trick was to get dry aged Prime Rib. We purchased one from Harvey Gussman.

He serves it with a home made steak sauce and mashed potatoes. The Rub was TOO Hot! The crust of the Prime Rib was VERY spicy, next time we will cut the pepper way down! The steak sauce is great, sweet and tangy. We are especially interested in the use of the Rib Bones in a future meal. We saved the them to make Deviled Ribs. Here is what David Burke says about Deviled Ribs…''I love these deviled,'' broiled to a crisp with mustard, he said. So did James Beard, who called deviled ribs ''one of the most satisfying gastronomical experiences I know.'' We found James Beard recipe and are going to make them.
For desert I had picked up both Apple and Cherry Tarts from La Brea Bakery. We also had Pomegranate and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream by Sheer Bliss.
Following that we served Tequila and Drambuie. We then walked Bea home - it was a spectacular night.
SPICE-CRUSTED PRIME RIB WITH WHIPPED POTATOES
Adapted from David Burke
Time: About 2 1/2 hours

For the roast:
13-rib portion of prime rib (6 to 8 pounds, preferably dry-aged), trimmed of excess fat (reserve it) and tied
1/2 cup ground cumin
1/3 cup ground cayenne
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup freshly ground black pepper

For the steak sauce:
2 cups Worcestershire
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Tabasco
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened2 teaspoons sesame oil

For the potatoes:
3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 scant cup whole milk
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.
1. Remove roast from refrigerator 2 hours before cooking. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. Set roast fat-side up on counter and rub a thick layer of spice mixture over entire surface. Transfer roast to a wire rack in a shallow roasting pan and place in oven for 13 to 15 minutes per pound.
2. While meat roasts, prepare steak sauce and potatoes. In a medium-size pot, combine Worcestershire, ketchup and Tabasco and set over medium heat. Reduce for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture has thickened. Lower heat to warm and whisk in butter and oil. Transfer to gravy boat or bowl and allow to cool before for serving. (Stored in an airtight container, sauce will last in refrigerator for 2 weeks.) 3. While sauce reduces, place some trimmed fat in a small, heavy-bottomed pot over low heat until it melts. Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, add salt and place over high heat. When water boils, lower heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Shut off heat.
4. After roast has cooked for an hour, check temperature by inserting a meat thermometer deep into its thickest part, away from any bone. For medium rare, remove from oven at 125 degrees. Allow to rest 15 to 20 minutes before carving.
5. While roast rests, finish potatoes. Place a small pot over medium-low heat,add milk and garlic and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Shut off heat and discard garlic. Drain potatoes in a colander. Pass them through a potato ricer or sieve back into pot in which they were boiled. Add butter, milk, salt and pepper, place pot over low heat, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or whisk. Add olive oil, stirring, and a few tablespoons of rendered fat. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to warm.
6. Carve roast. Remove bones by slicing down their sides: reserve for later use or serve in a bowl with meal. Carve an inch-thick slice per person. Place on plate with whipped potatoes and sauce on the side.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Moroccan Chicken

Wine: Chateau Maris La Touge Syrah 2003 Syrah Minervouis

Spring vegetables are appearing all over the farmers market. We always think, when you see Asparagus Strawberries will shortly follow! We concentrated on asparagus again repeating Asparagus Florentine Style by Giuliano Bugialli.

Paula Wolfert gets the Nobel Prize for: “Greatest cook who doesn’t have a restaurant”. Actually now that I think of it maybe it should be named the Julia Award in honor of Julia Child. I don’t think she ever had a restaurant. We like many of her recipes and have cooked many of them. For this dinner we made: Moroccan Chicken with Olives and Preserved Lemons from The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen. It is a wonderful dish with lots of olives and preserved lemons. We made the lemons from Kazue Lemon’s (our neighbor) who had dropped off a beautiful bad several weeks ago. NEVER buy preserved lemons they are simple to make. Lemon’s, lemon Juice to cover and salt, top with a little oil and stick in the fridge till you need them.

Couscous is, of course, the side of choice with almost any mid-eastern dish. It is also one of the easiest dishes in the world to make. The previous week we had made a Pea Puree and had some left over. It made a perfect topping on the Couscous. It is great to be able to use a leftover in a new way and this was just great!

Pasta, Peas and Passover

Wine: Chateau Maris 2003 Minervois Syrah from Silver Lake Wine

We started with the Radicchio Salad from the Zuni Café Cookbook. When we lived in San Francisco this was our favorite restaurant. (Think chicken for two, French Fries, Cesar Salad, Martinis). In the book, Judy Rodger’s states this salad is there second best seller. We have never seen it on the menu! However it is great! It is always fun to have a salad without lettuce and this one is a winner!
It is made from Radicchio, Anchovy Dressing, croutons and chopped egg. The radicchio was young in the market and small, but was excellent.

I have been volunteering at KCRW Radio Station working on Friday’s on To The Point, a great current events program. Last Friday as I walked out they had some give away recipes from another KCRW program, Good Food. I grabbed one of the collections of the Top 10 Recipes of 2005, and brought it home. One of them caught Cathy’s eye and we decided to make it. It was Mint Postcards with Spicy Lamb Sausage and Minted Pea Puree Pasta made with Merguez sausage. It is a signature dish of Mario Batali’s

So on to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market to buy fresh young peas. We bought a huge bag of them on Sunday, and Monday I got to spend the an hour listening to KCRW’s To The Point, while shelling and shelling and shelling peas.

The question for us was where do you buy Merguez sausage. We started calling around to no avail. I decided to Google for it, and found Jeff's Gourmet Glatt Kosher Sausage Factory & Deli Meats. We were out to have dinner at Lucques on Sunday Night (like we do every Sunday night) and we decided to stop at Jeff’s first purchase the sausage and head on to Lucques. I expected Jeff’s to be a Kosher Market. I was wrong! In the middle of a very Jewish area of Los Angeles, Jeff’s is a sandwich shop with their own made Sausage, Pastrami, great smells of French Fries etc. I never knew it was there. They had two types of Merguez a pre-cooked Moroccan and a raw Tunisian. Of course we bought both so that we could have a Merquez sausage-off. The Tunisian was spicier. We declared the sausage-off a draw and used both. The Pea Puree was a very smooth and flavorful. For the assembly of the dish, pasta mixed with homemade tomato sauce and both sausages, topped with a large dollop of pea puree and then pecorino cheese. This is a spicy pasta. I think we will make it again, but with a different sausage. Turns out Jeff’s is closing for 2 weeks due to Passover holiday. I never thought about it before, but I guess a Glatt Kosher sandwich shop is out of water during Passover, if they can’t serve bread. It would be hard to eat a sausage sandwich on Matzo. However, in 2 weeks, when they are open and I am returning from KCRW on Friday, I am going to stop and have a sausage sandwich and fries from lunch! Chris at the Cheese Store of Silver Lake sold us some new pasta, Tagliatelle by St. Cerdito. It was very good, and packaged as one of the biggest packages of pasta I have ever seen!